Hope Anyway

I struggled with writing a blog post this week, for a few reasons. I felt burned out by all of my responsibilities, I felt overwhelmed because of my health, and I also wrestled with the fact that I’ve been praying and praying, yet, not seeing any tangible results. I’m sure if you’re honest, you’ll admit that you’ve had seasons in your life where things became very difficult. I’m sure you’ve had days when you looked at your current circumstances and wondered when, or if things will ever change. Recently, I’ve been opening up to God more and more about how difficult it is at times to remain hopeful when nothing around me makes sense. When things, instead of becoming better, seemingly become worse.

Just this morning, I found myself talking to God about how I feel. I was honest, and told Him that some days, it really is difficult for me to keep the right perspective and hold on to hope. I sat on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering how things became so incredibly overwhelming. As I opened up to God however, He began to remind me of a scripture verse that I had read a few weeks prior. It was Romans 4:18 (NIV), which says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” If you're unfamiliar with the story behind this verse, God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. However, both Abraham and his wife Sarah were many years past childbearing age. Even further, after God had made this promise to Abraham, theologians state that it was many years before this promise even came to pass. So, let’s think about this for a moment. Abraham was faced with the reality that he and his wife were very old, way past the age to bear children; however, the verse says that, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. This means that even though, on the surface, there was no hope that he would have children, Abraham still hoped that it would happen. He hoped anyway that God would do what He had promised. It didn't matter to Abraham how impossible the promise seemed, nor how long it took to come to pass, Abraham chose to believe God and hold on to hope. Abraham hoped anyway. As God reminded me of Abraham’s story, He reassured me that although my circumstances may not look ideal, I have the choice to hope anyway. I can choose to hope that things will get better and that God will do what He promised, just like He did for Abraham. Against all hope, I can still hope that God will work all things together for my good (Romans 8:28).

I pray that Abraham’s story inspires you to hope anyway, as it inspired me. Life can be challenging sometimes, Jesus told us that it would be (John 16:33). However, we have the gift of hope as believers. We can hold on to hope, no matter how things may seem, because we know deep down that He is faithful who has promised (Hebrews 10:23). So, no matter what you may be walking through right now, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem, remember Abraham. He was a man, who the Bible says that his body was as good as dead (Romans 4:19), yet, he hoped anyway that he would be the father of many nations, and guess what? He received the promise.

Let’s be like Abraham and resolve to hope anyway.